James Francis Zeigler

Jim was born in Renovo, Pennsylvania, during the Great Depression. He was the fifth of seven children. When Jim was seven, his father became a single parent. Unable to work and care for all the kids at the same time, Jim's father sent him to live for a year with relatives in Virginia. Later, he was again separated from his siblings, staying for a year in a children's home.

Despite hardship, Jim remained close to his siblings. From his father, Jim learned the importance of commitment, responsibility, and family--values he emulated in his own life.

After graduating from high school, Jim enlisted in the Air Force. He spent a year in Iceland training as an avionics technician, and then was transferred to Germany. While overseas, Jim met the love of his life, a beautiful and fun-loving German girl named Erika, who swept him off his feet. They were soon married and had three daughters. Every few years, the family was transferred to a new area, ultimately living on three continents.

After 21 years of service and achieving the rank of Master Sergeant, Jim retired from the Air Force with full honors. He chose to settle his family in Fort Worth, Texas, where he embarked on his second career as a tech rep for Xerox. He worked for Xerox for the next 22 years.

At the age of 46, Jim came to a crossroads in his life. After hearing the gospel, he gave his life to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He and Erika began attending McKinney Bible Church (now Doxology), where they have been part of small group life and faithfully served as door greeters for many years.

After retiring from Xerox, Jim briefly became self-employed before fully committing to retirement. He loved books, animals, country music, history, and crossword puzzles. He spent hours in his workshop building anything from doll cradles to trivets to give to others. He looked forward to monthly lunches with old friends from work. He also took great joy in spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Jim became ill in May and steadily declined over the next few weeks. Towards the end, he said, "I'm dying. I'm ready to go. I've lived a good life." We rejoice that he has now exchanged his worn and ailing body for a new glorious body in heaven. Though our hearts grieve, we know we will see him again.

Jim leaves behind his loving wife of 62 years, Erika; his three daughters: Judy Spotts, Carla Holiday (Jon), and Andrea Kraft (Steve); sister Joan Tarr and brother Ken Zigler; five grandchildren: Kevin Zeigler, Jason Spotts, Kayla Bernardez (Aaron), and Campbell and Camille Kraft; and four great grand-children: James E. Zeigler, and Jackson, Alina and Juliana Bernardez.

A memorial service to celebrate Jim's life will occur on Monday, June 20th at 1:00 pm at Doxology Church in Fort Worth. He will be buried with military honors in the veteran's section at Laurel Land in Fort Worth. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jim's honor to Wounded Warriors or DFW German Shepherd Rescue.